Five-run first inning powers Tommies past Royals

A five-run first inning, highlighted by home runs from catcher Emily Gregory and third baseman Mary Rentz, gave the St. Thomas softball team an early lead, which they held onto for the rest of the game en route to a 11-0 victory against Bethel in first round of the MIAC tournament.

The Tommies scored in every inning and led by eight runs after just two innings of play. With an 11-run lead after five innings, the Tommies enacted the eight-run mercy rule and the game was ended, giving St. Thomas its sixth-consecutive shutout win.

“It felt great. We were ready to go, and we were talking before the game and saying, ‘score often, score early,’ so it felt good to jump on them early,” Gregory said.

The Tommies entered the game riding a 10-game win streak to end the MIAC regular season, and had only allowed three runs in their last eight games. The first-seeded Tommies showed their offensive and defensive talent in the first round of the conference tournament against the fourth-seeded Royals.

“It was definitely key for us to come in and start with that momentum. It kind of helped to start the day and set the tone for the next two games,” shortstop Jenna Hoffman said.

After Hoffman and right fielder Bianca Peterson both reached base to start the game for St. Thomas, Gregory drove a ball to deep right field to put the Tommies up 3-0 early. Rentz added a two-run home run later in the inning to make it a 5-0 game after just one inning of play.

St. Thomas added three runs in the second inning without even managing to get a hit. Gregory and left fielder Kirstin Bigelbach both walked, and Peterson was hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases for St. Thomas. Bethel starting pitcher Courtney Saurer was then pulled in favor of Karli Persson. However, Persson walked her first two batters with the bases loaded to send two St. Thomas runs across the plate. Pinch hitter Erin Mussett capped off the second inning scoring with a sacrifice fly to deep center field.

With a big lead, pitchers Kendra Bowe, Annie Boyer and Katie Jo Delisle combined to pitch five shutout innings and allow just one hit.

The win set the stage for a second round game for St. Thomas against Gustavus, who defeated St. Ben’s 2-0 in its first round game.

Home runs help Tommies to second round win

Catcher Emily Gregory homered twice in her first two at bats to drive in all four runs for the St. Thomas softball team in a 4-1 win against Gustavus in the second round of the MIAC tournament.

A solo home run from Gregory in the first inning gave the Tommies an early lead over the Gusties. She added a second home run in the third inning, this time a three-run home run, to give the Tommies a 4-0 lead. Gregory’s two home runs made it her fourth consecutive game with a home run, and five in four games.

“We’ve been putting in a lot of work. I specifically have been working on my offense a lot with coach Tschida,” Gregory said. “We know (Gustavus pitcher Hannah Heacox) throws a lot of rise balls, so we’ve been working on hitting rise balls all week in practice.”

Though St. Thomas got out to the early 4-0 lead, Gustavus answered in the fourth inning when a Jessica Williams single allowed Carly Klass to score from second base.

Gustavus threatened to score again in the fifth inning when back-to-back St. Thomas errors gave the Gusties runners on first and third with nobody out. However the next three Gustie batters couldn’t manage a hit, and St. Thomas was able to get out of the jam unscathed.

“On the defensive side, it’s just about staying solid. When you get the opportunity, can you take advantage of it?” coach John Tschida said. “Our kids did a good job. There were some line drives where our kids got the ball and knew right where they were going to go with it, so that was good.”

After the fifth inning, pitcher Kendra Bowe and the St. Thomas defense retired the next six consecutive Gustavus batters to end the game. Bowe pitched all seven innings and allowed six hits, but conceded just one run while striking out two batters.

“We tell our kids that we don’t need strikeouts, we just need to get outs. The faster you can get them, the easier it is on you,” Tschida said. “So our kids are doing what they need to do, which is get outs.”

St. Thomas now advances to the final of the MIAC tournament where they will face the winner of Gustavus and Bethel. In the double elimination tournament, St. Thomas will need just one win out of a potential two games to claim the MIAC postseason title.

The MIAC final will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday at Macalester Field.

Jacob Sevening can be reached at seve8586@stthomas.edu.